Chaturanga Samrawickrama Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Fifty percent of the public do not come forward to get their booster doses assuming there is no risk of COVID presently in the country, Public Health Officers’ (PHI) union Head Upul Rohana said.
He told the Daily Mirror that the daily COVID positive case announcements was misleading the public and had projected a picture that the COVID pandemic had been brought under control and therefore, people were behaving very carelessly and showing ignorance in following health guidelines.
However, at the grassroots level of society, the situation was getting worse.
“The government used to announce the daily COVID positive cases between 500 and 600, and the daily COVID tests had reached 6,000 per day. But the data announced daily by the relevant authorities are not accurate,” he said.
However, in the wake of the COVID pandemic, the public’s behaviour over the long weekend was very disappointing, and we noticed people behaving badly, violating COVID rules, Rohana said.
He said at the recently concluded cricket matches, fans were seen mostly without face-masks and did not maintain social distance.
With the inaccurate announcements on daily positive cases, people are complacent that the country has brought the pandemic situation under control. This complacency leads people to behave carelessly.
Therefore, there is a risk of COVID positive cases escalating in the country very soon and the responsibility for dragging the country to such a catastrophic situation should be borne by the health authorities and the government, Rohana added.
ChaturangaSamarawickrama Courtesy The Daily Mirror
The Sri Lanka Television Broadcasting Digitization Project is to be officially launched tomorrow afternoon, the Mass Media Ministry said.
The Ministry said with the Television Broadcasting Digitization Project, people would be able to watch programs more clearly while removing TV signal vulnerabilities.
This project is planned and operated by the Mass Media Ministry with JICA financial and technical assistance.
The official launching ceremony of the program will be held tomorrow at 7.00 pm.
The Ministry said after initialising the program, the whole analog signal broadcasting system will be converted into digital format. Meanwhile, the ministry said the removal of multiple television antennae and the ability to capture all TV channels with one antenna is another feature of digitization.
The prices of white jackfruit (Kos), green jackfruit (Polos), banana flower (Kesel Muwa) and sweet potato, which were cheaper than the vegetables that have gone up in the market, have also risen sharply.
It is reported that the wholesale price of a kilo of green jackfruit, which was previously between 20 and 40 rupees, has now increased to 100 rupees and the price of a kilo of white jackfruit has increased to 200 rupees.
In addition, the price of a kilo of banana flower has increased to Rs. 150.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has accepted the letter of resignation tendered by Presidential Secretary P.B. Jayasundera, according to political sources.
It is reported that Jayasundera is set to step down from his position with effect from December 31.
Recent news reports revealed that the presidential secretary had handed over his resignation to the Head of State.
Gamini Senarath, the Secretary to the Prime Minister, is tipped to be appointed as the next Secretary to the President.
Meanwhile, Secretary to the Irrigation Ministry, Anura Dissanayake is expected to be appointed as the next secretary of the prime minister.
The daily count of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka moved to 458 today (December 27), the Epidemiology Unit said.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 584,107.
As many as 559,684 recoveries and 14,901 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 9,500 active cases in total are currently under medical care, official figures showed.
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 17 coronavirus related deaths for December 26, pushing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 14,901.
The deaths confirmed today include 11 males and 06 females while one of the deceased is below the age of 30 years.
Six are between the ages 30-59 years while the remaining 10 are in the age group of 60 years and above.
The economy of Sri
Lanka has come to a situation where the Government has allowed it to freewheel,
without any controls. Going on this path It is purely a matter of
time- for the economy to totally crash. The Aim in writing this
Paper is to find a solution to the present mayhem where we do not have funds even
to pay for essentials.
Perhaps how countries have suffered and
faced similar crisis in the past may offer us ideas.
In 1997 The Asian Giants- Malaysia,
Indonesia, Thailand, Southern Korea all crashed.
In 1995, the World Bank had said
that Thailand was the world’s fastest growing economy.
Of Thailand, in
1996, export growth slumped from over 29% to zero. The stock market
lost two thirds of its value. The country was battered by
speculators into a sharp depreciation- the biggest finance company collapsed.
Two thirds of all finance firms were suspended. The IMF was called in to
arrange the largest ever bail out”.( From Thailand Boom and Bust by
Phongpaichit and Baker).
Of all countries that had crashed
economies, Malaysia stands out as the one country that emerged victorious.
Other countries had to beg for assistance from the World Bank and the IMF.
Indonesia was bailed out with a loan of $ 43 billion, South Korea
with a bail out of $ 56 billion and Thailand with a loan package of $ 17
billion. They were all loans that enabled the countries to survive for the
moment and pay later- their foreign debt increased.
The financial upheaval in Indonesia
saw the fall of its leader Suharto Nicholas Kristof, Jakarta
correspondent of the NEW York Times aptly wrote of what happened to Suharto, the Prime Minister of
Indonesia:
What overthrew Suharto was not a guerrilla
insurgency, but a conspiracy of far more subversives- capitalism,
markets and globalization; Suharto’s sleuths never figured how to
handcuff them.
(Herald International Tribune)
It has to be understood that Sri Lanka
today has been held hostage by international capitalism working through its
agent, the International Monetary Fund.
There was one country that did not go
begging for Aid. That was Malaysia. Mahatir Muhammed the Prime
Minister took charge of the economy, collected all the dollars from all the
banks. In my words, Mahatir Muhammed declared war with the IMF by doing the
exact opposite of the IMF advice. He did not go on bended knees to the IMF.
Instead he effectively controlled the economy of his own country. He imposed
strict controls on the use of foreign exchange. He did not allow anyone
to spend the money on the import of unnecessary goods. He clamped
severe restrictions on the use of foreign exchange. This even went to the
extreme of stopping foreign exchange for Malaysians studying
abroad. There was mayhem in student circles in the
UK. Some students took leave of studies and went back. Others were
compelled to work as waiters and kitchen hands and pay
themselves”(How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka: 2006:page 238) In
1958 Mahatir even stopped foreign investors from taking away
money.
In the opinion of Mahatir Muhammed,
Any country at all which says it
cannot control its banks and its banking system- they are not fit to be
governments and they should either resign or be overthrown”. (Daily News.lk:
1/2/1999)
Malaysia was the one and only
country to get out of the East Asian Foreign Currency Crisis.
Let us relate what Mahatir
Muhammed did to our present situation.
Even today the Sri Lankan Government does
not collect the dollars that come in. The bulk of the dollars are
collected by the private and foreign banks and the
private money changers who are allowed to fix their own rates to buy and sell.
The private dealers collect dollars or rupees within minutes, while
the State banks take at least half an hour of form filling and passport checking.
. That is how the government is bankrupt. The State Banks collect
only a fraction of the dollars that come in.
A funny thing did happen on 2/1/2001- a
day, two decades ago. Our two State banks the Bank of Ceylon and the Peoples
Bank did not have sufficient dollars to pay a large oil bill and they went hat
in hand to the private foreign banks in Colombo. The foreign bank that had
collected dollars raised the price to Rs 106, when the rate had been Rs 85 and
the two State Banks were forced to buy at the higher price. The Rupee was
devalued immediately.
The Central Bank when questioned admitted
that the Central Bank has control over the domestic Rupee(The Island:
17/2/2001)
In other words the private banks collect
dollars that come in and sell it as they like, fix their own rates and this has
gone on and even today the banks and private dealers fix their own rates.
What all this indicates is that even today
our Government does not control the foreign exchange that comes
in. Naturally we are today facing the music of not having
dollars to pay for essential imports.
What can be done? The Governor of the
Central Bank Minister Cabral has ruled out going to the IMF. Because the IMF
will insist on devaluing the Rupee, increase interest rates, privatize State
commercial ventures, draw further loans and live on them like what we did in
the past. He is right.
Our leaders jump up and state that we will
pay what we owe next year- some $ 4 to 5 billion to service the
foreign debt we owe. It is time for moot thinking whether we need to service
and pay any loan outstanding to the IMF and the World Bank purely because we
have done everything they have said and we are now facing a crisis due to their
wrong advice.
We have to find out, question
ourselves:
Are we yet collecting all the dollars that
come in? No. We allow the private and foreign banks and private dealers to
collect, fix rates and sell as they like. This they have done
for decades from November 1977, and at least now we have to collect all dollars
that come in like what was done before we embraced neoliberalism in 1977.
Are we yet being fooled by foreign
investors who trade in the local Rupee, calculate profits in the
Rupee but take away profits in dollars from our reserves.
Are we not yet being fooled by foreign
tourist booking agencies that book hotel stay, get the hotel to collect in
local Rupees but get paid by invoices in dollars going out of our reserves.
Hotel bookings from foreigners has to be collected in dollars.
Before
President Jayawardena foolishly submitted to neoliberalism and
started living on loans, we had a closed economy that was totally controlled.
Then we had two budgets a local Rupee budget that attended to all development
work. We had a separate foreign budget run with the dollars we collected from
imports etc. Then we spent the dollars we had firstly for essentials
and if we had extra we gave small allocations to import cars and fridges etc.
We never gave funds for foreign travel unless it was necessary for
our country, Nor did we allocate any foreign funds for students to study
abroad. Do we not have to get to this system even now.
Perhaps how we managed our finances from
the day we achieved independence till President Jayawardena started
,licking the boots of the IMF is of importance. The fundamental fact
is that at the end of 1977 Sri Lanka did not have a foreign debt.
As much as we have had to restrict imports
let us have a programme to make all what we imported. Not long ago we had the
Divisional Development Councils Programme(DDCP) of 1970-1977 when we made sea
going fishing boats(at Matara), even Crayons equal to the Crayola of today(at
Matara), even paper made out of waste Paper(at Nuwara Eliya- Kotmale)
agricultural farms ( in every District)and many more, all done with
local Rupees, all done by local staff. We can easily do it again in
months. That will also provide incomes and employment to the
unemployed.
The Government cannot allow the banks to
rule any longer by allowing dollars to whom they prefer. The Government has no
alternative but to collect all dollars that come in and spend first for
essentials- there should be no kero queues and no milk food queues. Price
controls are inevitable. Essentials first. There will be no money to feed
foreign universities and the foreign universities have even jacked up the
fees to bolster their funds It is all a plan to increase the debt burden of
poor countries.
Perhaps a re think of priorities and a
firm resolve to go ahead is what is required today.
Garvin Karunaratne Author of How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka , Godages 2006~ How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development, 2017
In April 2014, President Vladimir Putin addressed Russia’s Federal Assembly in the wake of Moscow’s reabsorption of Crimea. Over the course of his speech, he laid the blame for an increase in tensions on the West, which he insisted had lied to us many times, made decisions behind our backs, placed us before an accomplished fact.” At the heart of this apparent duplicity was NATO’s expansion to the East, as well as deployment of military infrastructure at our borders,” contrary, he said, to its promises.
Ever since, disproving the idea that Western leaders had assured Moscow the bloc wouldn’t encroach on its borders has become an obsession for think tanks and lobby groups. For example, UK policy institute Chatham House brands the suggestion that any pledge was made not to enlarge the controversial military bloc one of the key myths and misconceptions in the debate on Russia,” whileNATO’s own website likewise claims it is wholly manufactured.
Significant evidence to the contrary has long-been easily accessible, but now the National Security Archive has published a tranche of never-before-seen, highly revealing documents detailing how then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin was consistently manipulated by his US counterpart Bill Clinton on the question during the mid-1990s, while bold, false promises of a strategic partnership” of the countries faded into nothingness.
Take for instance the transcript of a cordial July 5 1994 telephone conversation between the pair, at which time the US president was preparing to depart for Poland – which had been pushing for rapid absorption by NATO – and the Baltic states, before meeting with Yeltsin at the G7 summit in Italy.
Yeltsin urged Clinton to raise the plight of Russophones in Estonia and Latvia, because a public statement from you that the US will not support any infringement on the rights of the Russian-speaking people” would mean these countries will act differently.” He noted Lithuania’s quick granting of citizenship to its Russian minority had prompted Moscow to withdraw its troops from Vilnius, and the same could happen by August in Tallinn and Riga if assurances were made. Yeltsin also wished to discuss NATO expansion.READ MORE: US ready to negotiate with Russia on security – White House
In response, Clinton swore he’d raise the issue of the Russian minorities,” and reassured Yeltsin that while NATO might eventually expand,” he’d set out no timetable and no requirements.” Instead, he indicated that he’d like us to concentrate” on Partnership for Peace, a US-led initiative seeking to achieve a united Europe where people respect each other’s borders and work together.” Yeltsin could be entirely forgiven for thinking the Partnership was Washington’s primary focus, and the military alliance an afterthought, by the conclusion of the chat.
The Russian president’s optimism about a mutually beneficial partnership with the US on the basis of equality” is writ large in a letter he sent to Clinton in November that year. He speaks of this prospective coalition as the central factor in world politics,” pledges to cooperate constructively with the US on issues related to Bosnia, Iraq, North Korea, and Ukraine, and eagerly awaits their meeting at the December 5 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Budapest, where we have much to talk about … first of all, transforming European stability.”
As it was, the Hungary summit was a disaster, with Clinton’s speech at the event focusing on NATO as the bedrock of security in Europe,” and declaring no country outside will be allowed to veto expansion” – a clear reference to Russia. In response, Yeltsin fulminated, it is a dangerous delusion to suppose the destinies of continents and the world … can somehow be managed from one single capital,” and adding that [moving] the responsibilities of NATO up to Russia’s borders” would be a grave error.
An internal US diplomatic cable from the next day shows lessons were quickly learned from this episode. Namely, the urgent need to keep quiet publicly about US plans for extending the military alliance, while offering bogus private assurances to Moscow any enlargement would only occur after consultation between the two countries, and that Russia was still in the running for bloc membership.
Fast-forward to May 1995, Clinton visits Moscow to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Allied victory in World War II, and these lies are enthusiastically maintained in a one-on-one meeting with Yeltsin. The pair’s rapport is clearly chummy, referring to each other as friends, although serious matters are very much on the table too.READ MORE: EU & Ukraine ask to join talks on future of European security
How do you think it looks to us if one bloc continues to exist while the Warsaw Pact has been abolished? It’s a new form of encirclement if the one surviving Cold War bloc expands,” the Russian president pleaded. Many Russians have a sense of fear. What do you want to achieve with this if Russia is your partner? We need a new structure for Pan-European security, not old ones! Perhaps the solution is to postpone NATO expansion until the year 2000 so that later we can come up with some new ideas.”
Ever suave and calculating, Clinton sought to allay his fears, somewhat amazingly suggesting Moscow should view his approach to NATO in the context of greater integration of Russia into other international institutions,” dangling the prospect of various sweeteners, including membership of the G7, if Yeltsin quietened his anti-NATO rhetoric, and kept his opinions on the bloc’s expansion to himself. Clinton knew well that such compliance was easily bought – as his Russian friend” himself acknowledged, his position heading into the 1996 presidential runoff was not exactly brilliant.”
Indeed, his polling stood in the single digits, and Communist candidate Gennady Zyuganov was widely forecast to win via landslide. Yeltsin spoke of needing positive reports” in the press, and to head off even the smallest wrong moves,” proposing any discussion of NATO enlargement be kept theoretical until the year 2000, and urging the White House resident not to do anything to rile the situation up before the elections.”
I’ve made it clear I’ll do nothing to accelerate NATO [expansion]. I’m trying to give you now, in this conversation, the reassurance you need. But we need to be careful that neither of us appears to capitulate,” Clinton slickly pledged. For you, that means you’re not going to embrace expansion. For me, it means no talk about slowing the process down or putting it on hold or anything like that.”
So it was that Yeltsin agreed to maintain an omerta on the military bloc, and enlist in the Partnership for Peace. Despite plans for NATO expansion already being well-laid by that point, and very much in motion, the Kremlin remained silent about developments – the president’s acquiescence was further ensured by extensive covert and overt US assistance in his election campaign, which was fundamental to transforming an initial 6% standing in the polls to an extremely comfortable victory.READ MORE: US sending thousands of military personnel to Ukrainian front lines – Moscow
Less than three years later, NATO’s engulfing of the former Soviet sphere finally began, with the incorporation of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. This push was opposed stateside by, among others, George Kennan – formerly a committed ‘cold warrior’, and key figure in the creation of the alliance.
I think it is the beginning of a new Cold War … The Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies. I think it is a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anybody else,”he said in May 1998, after the US Senate ratified enlargement. Of course, there is going to be a bad reaction from Russia, and then [the NATO expanders] will say that we always told you that is how the Russians are – but this is just wrong.”
With tensions between Kiev and Moscow at an all-time high, with the question of Ukraine’s NATO membership at the heart of the dangerous dispute, Kennan’s words give every appearance today of a prophet’s warning coming terrifyingly true.
By Kit Klarenberg, an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. Follow him on Twitter @KitKlarenberg
In its prolonged freezing of Venezuelan assets, the UK continues to withhold 31 tons of its gold stored at the Bank of England, with a new Supreme Court ruling supporting the seizure.
5/ Ultimately the UK Supreme Court has legitimised a modern expression of piracy using 19th century legal doctrines. Any foreign state which cuts off diplomatic relations with the UK would now be wise to also withdraw its foreign reserves.— John McEvoy (@jmcevoy_2) December 20, 2021
The recent decision, CNN reported, ruled that recognition of heads of state and government was solely the responsibility of the British government, which had recognized [opposition leader Juan] Guaidó as Venezuela’s Constitutional interim President.”
Like most duplicitous corporate media, CNN pushed the narrative that Nicolas Maduro isn’t actually Venezuela’s elected president (he claimed” the widely disputed” election). But, as I wrote in March, he is president, and Venezuela’s election process has been recognized as transparent and effective, with former US President Jimmy Carter in 2012 calling it ‘the best in the world.’On the other hand, the Venezuelan opposition, as well as Western nations, have interfered with and attempted to sabotage elections.”
In any case, the UK court, drawing on the ‘one voice principle’, decided that because UK leaders like Boris Johnson regard the unbeloved Guaidó as ‘interim president’, he therefore, inexplicably, is – in spite of most of the world not recognizing him as such.
Meanwhile, script-reading legacy media are echoing one another in claiming that Venezuela has no right to its own gold, disingenuously promoting the false premise that Guaidó is Venezuela’s president.
The BBC ran with: ‘UK Supreme Court denies Maduro claim to Venezuelan gold’.
Fortune Times gushed: ‘UK Supreme Court thwarts Maduro’s bid to control $1.9bn Venezuela gold.’
How very benevolent of the UK courts to thwart the dastardly elected president of a nation whose population it is allied with the US in relentlessly punishing.
As any good stooge of imperialism does, Guaidó – the Western puppet previously-unknown to the world, and largely unknown within Venezuela before his self-appointment as ‘president’ – pops up when needed, aka when the US and allies want to hurt the Venezuelan people even further.
4/ In his effort to asset strip Venezuela, Guaidó has drawn on millions of dollars originally seized from the Central Bank of Venezuela in the US.He is effectively using looted money to loot more money.https://t.co/zvlaZTmc16— John McEvoy (@jmcevoy_2) December 20, 2021
In a March 2021 article, I opined, You would have to have been offline or in a coma for the past couple of years to not be aware of some key facts about ‘interim president’ Guaidó. Venezuelans didn’t vote for Guaidó to be president, he hasn’t even stood for president. Venezuelans voted for Maduro. Guaidó named himself ‘interim president’, to the support of only roughly 50 countries – leaving a glaring nearly 150 countries not recognizing this Western-groomed stooge as Venezuela’s leader.”
Contrary to the UK’s re-recognition of this man as the president of Venezuela, as I noted, even the EU dropped its recognition of Guaidó as interim president.
On-the-ground support for the non-president?
In 2019, I spent several weeks in Caracas, refuting Western pundits’ and media claims that there was chaos following a series of power outages. During that time, I observed protests in support of the government, and sought out the supposedly-massive protests in support of Guaidó (spoiler, I couldn’t find them, in spite of scouring the city on a motorcycle taxi).
They make it up, it’s all lies, all lies. The only president we recognize is Nicolas Maduro. And we want this man, Juan Guaidó, to be arrested immediately.”
In an encounter another day, a woman unleashed, We didn’t vote for you, Guaidó. We’re not a North American colony. We’re not Colombia. Respect Venezuela. The US wants to steal our resources. Trump, stop f**king us over.”
Up in the hills of Petare, riding on a friend’s motorcycle, wherever we went, we met people who spat on Guaidó and on the West’s lies about Venezuela.
This latest UK court ruling to continue denying Venezuela its gold – and deny the nation a means of providing relief to its uber-sanctioned population, which struggles to get enough food to eat because of it – is not surprising, giving the West’s history of attempting to overthrow Venezuela’s leaders and destabilize the country.
It needs to be underscored that the same politicians, pundits and media which promote Guaidó as a Venezuelan leader, much less president, and whitewash the UK’s theft of Venezuela’s gold, systematically downplay the deadly sanctions against its people.
Eva Bartlett is a Canadian independent journalist and activist. She has spent years on the ground covering conflict zones in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Palestine (where she lived for nearly four years). Follow her on Twitter @EvaKBartlett
Geneva: As the year 2021 sets to finish its cycle,
Afghanistan emerges as the most dangerous country for scribes with 12
journo-casualties, followed by Mexico (10 dead), Pakistan (7), India (6), etc.
The south Asian nation also lost at least 10 media workers to the Covid-19
complications till date, said Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media
safety and rights body.
Since the Taliban take over the country in August, it
also witnessed the collapse of over 150 print media outlets following new restrictions and many opted for
online news services. Thousands of professional journalists lost their jobs and
many left their country for safer places to practice journalism. Afghan women
journalists have to face the worst situation as they are restricted from various
outdoor activities.
Financial crisis is looming large over the Afghan media
as the newspapers lost readership and commercial advertisement revenues
drastically in the last four months. Almost half of the media outlets including
radio and televisions in Kabul had closed down their operations leaving
thousands of media workers jobless that put them in acute crisis with no or
little hope of revival.
PEC expresses serious concern over the negative
development to Afghan media. Lately a young reporter (Javid Yousufi) was
stabbed in Kabul by the miscreants. Other localities like Balk, Takhar and
Kunduz also witnessed physical attacks on journalists in the last few days. The
regime in Kabul must protect the journalists as they are doing their duties,”
said Blaise Lempen, secretary-general of PEC.
He also appreciated the management of TOLO news,
the country’s first recognized news channel presenting news in Dari and Pashto
languages since August 2010, for continuing to engage female reporter-news
anchors defying the Taliban restrictions. Speaking to PEC’s south Asia
representative Nava Thakuria, an Afghan lady reporter expressed optimism that
other media outlets would also follow the same principle of not bowing down to
the Taliban regime.
Public
reactions against a news item in any newspaper or news channel may be usual in
India, but public outrages in digital platforms against the mainstream media
outlets for not covering a particular issue is definitely an unusual
phenomenon. Far-eastern Indian State of Assam witnessed such a public fury
against some of the editor-journalists for avoiding the press conferences by
opposition political parties where they targeted the State chief minister for
his family’s alleged land scam.
The
organized public uproar in the alternate media was so intense that the
celebrity editor-journalists of Assam did not dare to clarify their positions.
They preferred to avoid the debates killing time. Shockingly, no media worker’s
outfit, civil society groups or reader and viewers came forward defending the
otherwise glamourous editor-journalists, when they faced the abusive social
media posts for many days.
Assam in
northeast India today supports over 30 morning daily newspapers in different
languages along with a large number of Assamese periodicals and magazines.
Guwahati also hosts eight satellite news channels (most of them are in free to
air category) with hundreds of news portals. Their cumulative quality
readership (and viewership) may reach 3.5 million, but the number of social
media users in the State with over 30 million population should cross 4.5
million.
The
controversy started with a breaking (and elaborate) news, presented by TheWire
and TheCrosscurrent in the first week of December 2021, where both the
digital media outlets alleged a land grabbing scam against the family of State
chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The content indicated that a real estate
company, founded by the saffron leader’s wife, illegally occupied around 18
acres of government land meant for landless farmers.
Based on
the specific media contents, three political parties namely Asom Jatiya
Parishad, Raijor Dol and the Congress had organized separate press conferences
demanding proper investigations into the alleged land scam by the CM’s family.
For reasons best known to the editor-journalists of Guwahati-based newspapers
and news channels, they did not cover the issue and simply killed the news.
The issue
should have died naturally after some time. But a sudden outbursts of
anti-media posts in the digital platforms surfaced in the morning hours on 9
December. For almost three days, most of the editors were named and shamed for
their silence over Sarma’s land grab issue in social media. News channel’s
logos and photographs of some celebrity-journalists were made viral with
abusive words.
Soon the
State legislative assembly began its winter session on 20 December and as usual
the first day’s proceedings were interrupted by the opposition legislators over
the issue. They wanted the assembly to discuss it, but speaker Biswajit Daimary
did not allow it. Later the opposition MLAs staged a walkout in protest. But
shockingly the development was not prominently published by most of the
newspapers and news channels.
Assam
Congress president Bhupen Bora dared Sarma to clarify his stand on the issue.
All the opposition political leaders demanded a probe by the Enforcement
Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation over the alleged land grab by
CM’s family. They claimed that Sarma for his personal interest handed over 18
acres of government land worth crores of rupees to his family members without
following any rule.
The
oldest party of India also organised a press conference in New Delhi, where
senior Congress leaders namely Gaurav Vallabh, Jitendra Singh, Ripun Bora
and Gaurav Gogoi alleged that Sarma set aside all rules to offer
government lands to his family. This time, the issue got national coverage by
most of the metro-based morning dailies. At least two news agencies also
covered the event.
The
Congress leaders (where Bora and Gogoi from Assam) asserted that
all unlawful land transfers to the concerned group must be cancelled and the
alternate land to those deprived landless families should be offered. CM Sarma
has not clarified his stand over the matter yet, only alleged that the
concerned digital media outlet is Left-aligned (read anti-BJP).
Reluctance
for covering such issues by the majority of Guwahati-based mainstream media
outlets can be guessed from their dependence on government advertisement
revenues for survival. They are lately facing a serious financial crisis since
the Covid-19 hit the country. The pandemic resulted in abrupt loss of
circulation for newspapers and also commercial advertisement revenues. The news
channels also lost their quality viewership drastically.
So, most
of the newspaper managements today cannot go against the government policy even
if it becomes necessary for sustaining its credibility. Thus, slowly they have
turned out to be official organs of the ruling party (read the aggressive
chief minister). They are not even confident of getting adequate support in
need from their valued readers across the State.
But the
question that arises is, why would the readers believe in these media outlets,
when most of them run their media business enterprises for selfish interest
only? They have made it a habit to create news out of nothing even though it
may go for character assassinations of many individuals. Moreover, when the
affected parties try to clarify their positions, the editor-owners prefer to
ignore their views, as if the media fraternity is no way accountable for that.
Personal
corruption of some well-known editors also added complications to the
situation, where public goodwill towards the media fraternity continued to
erode. A senior Assamese journalist, who has been in the profession for more
than three decades, recently made a sensational social media post claiming that
at least seven editors (of city-based news channels) possessed more wealth than
actually they can earn legally from their jobs.
Speaking
to this writer to confirm about the post Dipankar Devsarmah lamented that
because of some greedy editor-media owners the media industry has lost its
credibility (whatever left). Talking about naming the editors in the post,
Devsarmah asserted that it may be unpleasant for many, but it’s true. He even
made a declaration in the post that all details about the said editors’
properties and luxury vehicles are with him and would make it public in need.
Motivated news is also synonymous
with many Assam media outlets. The readers-viewers could remember
that a dramatic news item was circulated among the Guwahati-based newspapers
and news channels in March 2020 narrating a fake story about an outgoing
secretary of a journalists’ club burning down many documents. Amazingly, the
concerned secretary was present on the occasion when the so-called burning took
place, but no reporter dared to ask him for reactions (they definitely knew
that it was a fabricated item).
Probably,
the readers-viewers
too did not believe in the content. Hence, even after it was published by most
of the newspapers and news channels from Guwahati, the secretary faced not a
single question when he roamed around a city’s crowded market next morning. His
relatives, friends and well-wishers remained indifferent to it. So, the issue
died naturally. Nonetheless,
the media
outlets tried their best to defame him. Now the question that arises is, if a
seasoned journalist can be targeted by the media in such a way, would they
spare an ordinary citizen!
Colombo, December 26 (Xinhua): On the golden artificial beach in Colombo’s Port City, the Sri Lankan Sanjeewa Alwis was earnestly building” a sandcastle model similar to the financial center building that will be built in Port City.
Noticing Alwis’ masterpiece” on the beach, three Sri Lankan kids playing by the sea rushed to him to jointly build the sandcastle.
Colombo Port City Marina Photo: Tang Lu/Xinhua
While listening to Alwis, who talked about the sandcastle that was piled up” from the sea, one curious girl asked: Can a city be ‘piled’ in the sea? What will this city rising from the sea look like in the future?”
Alwis, who is a project engineer working at China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC)’s Port City Colombo project, has been working here for five years.
Colombo Port City being modeled on the beach by Sanjeewa Alwis and the kids. Photo: Tang Lu/Xinhua
The Port City Colombo project, located near Colombo’s central business district, is a large-scale investment project jointly developed by the CHEC and the Sri Lankan government. It is regarded as a model of cooperation between China and Sri Lanka in jointly building the Belt and Road.
Alwis has witnessed the construction of the project since it began. He went to China to study electrical engineering and automation for six years at Tsinghua University in the 1980s.
Colombo Port City grand aerial view. Photo: Xinhua
I am very proud to be working as part of a Port City project, to (help) build my home country with the knowledge I have got from China,” said Alwis.
In the early stage of construction, one of his tasks was to coordinate with relevant departments of the Colombo government.
Colombo Port City Fun at the Marina. Photo: Tang Lu/ Xinhua
To ensure the smooth progress of the project, the construction site needed at least two water sources. With Alwis’ efforts, the project finally got the sources. Whatever we are doing now will be a sample of Sri Lanka’s future,” he said.
In January 2019, the reclamation project was completed.
Colombo Port City construction site. Photo: Tang Lu/ Xinhua
The completion of the reclamation project not only marks the progress made in the overall construction of the Port City project, but is also a demonstration of Chinese solutions and technologies on the world stage,” said Zheng Hao, deputy project manager of CHEC’s Port City Colombo project.
With the completion of land reclamation, a series of new facilities have been built, including a central park, an artificial beach, a sports training center, a marina and a footbridge.
Christmas at Colombo Port City Marina. Photo: Tang Lu/Xinhua
Port City Colombo is the most promising project for our country,” said Sonala Gunawardana, chairman of the National Library of Sri Lanka.
Tharaka Samarasingha, a young Sri Lankan photographer, said that I am proud of the expansion of our territory after land reclamation, which will be one of the most important parts of our children’s future.”
A young couple having the time of their lives at the Colombo Port City Marina Photo: Tang Lu/Xinhua
The facility has 99 storage tanks with a capacity of 12,000 kilolitres each
After a year of visible strain in its ties with Colombo, New Delhi may finally have some reason for cheer. In a month’s time, Sri Lanka will ink the long-dragging deal with India to jointly develop the Trincomalee oil tank farms — a coveted project that has remained controversial for decades.
We have been negotiating this for 16 months, and we are now very close to finalising the terms of the Trincomalee project with India. We hope to sign the agreement in a month,” Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila told The Hindu on Sunday.
The Minister said he has instructed the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to form a subsidiary company, Trinco Petroleum Terminal Ltd., for the purpose. The move follows President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s nod to setting up the special purpose vehicle ahead of the next Cabinet meeting. We don’t have a Cabinet meeting this week because of the holidays. We will get the decision ratified in the next one,” Mr. Gammanpila said.
During the Second World War, the British built the Trincomalee oil tank farms to serve as a refuelling station, adjacent to the Trincomalee port, an enviable natural harbour. The nearly century-old oil tanks need to be refurbished — at the cost of millions of dollars — if they are to be fit for use again.
If the deal is finalised and signed next month, it will not only mark the culmination of India’s 16-month-long negotiation with the ruling Rajapaksa administration but will also give shape to a proposal envisaged 35 years ago, in the Indo-Lanka Accord. Despite the Accord — in its annexure — stating that the work of restoring and operating the Trincomalee oil tank farm will be undertaken as a joint venture between India and Sri Lanka”, things barely moved until 2003, when the Indian Oil Corporation set up Lanka IOC, its Sri Lankan subsidiary.
The facility, interestingly located in ‘China Bay’, has 99 storage tanks with a capacity of 12,000 kilolitres each, spread across the Upper Tank Farm and the Lower Tank Farm, where LIOC currently runs 15 tanks. The new agreement being negotiated pertains to the remaining tanks.
The early modernisation” of the Trincomalee oil tank farms found mention in the official statement released by the Sri Lankan mission in New Delhi, on Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s visit in November, indicating the priority accorded to it. Mr. Basil, the youngest brother of President Gotabaya and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, sought extensive economic assistance from New Delhi to help Sri Lanka tide over its economic crisis compounded by the pandemic.
Diplomatic sources indicated that New Delhi’s nod for the emergency Lines of Credit and currency swap requests from Colombo was contingent on the Rajapaksa administration moving forward on the Trincomalee deal.
However, dismissing the idea, Mr. Gammanpila said: Some including the political opposition are suggesting that India’s economic assistance is tied to the Trincomalee deal. I vehemently deny that. We began negotiating this agreement well before the economic assistance was sought,” insisting there is no connection whatsoever.”
It is nearly a month since Mr. Basil visited New Delhi, and the countries agreed to a four-pronged approach” that would help Sri Lanka mitigate its current economic crisis. There is no official word on the assistance so far.
Some newspapers and television channels saw the visit as a provocation to India, which has traditionally held close ties with the North, owing to geographic, cultural, and linguistic proximity.
A recent visit by the Chinese Ambassador in Colombo to Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province has sparked concern and considerable commentary on what is widely seen as a heightening geopolitical contest between India and China, now manifesting in the island nation’s north.
Chinese Ambassador Qi Zhenhong, who assumed charge in Colombo a year ago, went to the Northern Province for three days from December 15 to 17. While he held meetings with top government officials, including the Governor of the Province, Fisheries Minister, and the Mayor of Jaffna, it was his visit to key sites that drew much local media attention over the past week.
Ambassador Qi visited the iconic Jaffna Public Library – rebuilt after a Sinhalese mob set fire to it in 1981, and the Adam’s Bridge [that India refers to as ‘Rama Setu’], a row of limestone shoals across the narrow Palk Strait between Mannar in the Northern Province and Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. His boat ride to Adam’s Bridge was organised by the Sri Lankan Navy.
Local television channels showed the Ambassador interacting with military personnel stationed at the northern tip of the Jaffna Peninsula. Pointing to the ocean, Mr. Qi asked if he was facing the Indian continent. His team from the Embassy was also shown taking photographs using a drone camera. The Ambassador visited a seafood factory in Mannar district, built with Chinese investment, and a sea cucumber farm in Jaffna. The Embassy put out a press statement on the visit, with several images, and tweets, including in Tamil, from its official handle. Video footage of the visit also showed images of the Chinese Ambassador and his colleagues attired in a veshti (dhoti), standing bare-chested outside the well-known Nallur Kandasamy temple.
Amb. Qi made a donation to the temple and shared pooja items with the citizens after his visit. | Photo Credit: Twitter/Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka
It is not unusual for Colombo-based foreign diplomats to visit the north or any part of the country, but few visits have generated as much interest in Sri Lankan media. Newspapers and television channels covered Ambassador Qi’s visit extensively, with some reading it as a provocation to India, which has traditionally held close ties with the north, owing to geographic, cultural, and linguistic proximity.
The Sunday Times, one of Sri Lanka’s most-read weekend newspapers in English, observed in its editorial on Sunday [December 26]: That China wanted to be a provocative irritant to another country” was obvious. On the other hand, is the Northern Province the fiefdom of another country?”, apparently referring to India. The editorial also pointed to a safe, silent distance” maintained by the main political formation in the north, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). The editorial further noted: Fears of whether the North will be turned into another Arunachal Pradesh or Assam where border disputes prevail have already emerged to worry the local populace. While no country can expect any province of Sri Lanka to be another of its Union’s states, by proxy or otherwise, turning the region into a geopolitical football is fraught with danger.”
Media reports placed the visit in the context of the Chinese Embassy’s recent tweet about the suspension” of a solar energy project that a Chinese firm was to execute in three islands off Jaffna Peninsula, after India raised concern with Sri Lanka. Some also mentioned the ongoing diplomatic tiff between China and Sri Lanka over a consignment of “contaminated” Chinese fertilizer.
A news analysis published in The Morning newspaper on Sunday quoted TNA’s Batticaloa MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam as saying people of Sri Lanka’s north and east did not want China to have a footprint” in the provinces. We will oppose them. We don’t want them here. All these years, they [the Chinese] didn’t see us, nor did they think of the interest of the Tamil people. They have discriminated against us, even in official name boards… So, why the sudden interest in us now?”
Speaking to the newspaper, Jaffna Chamber of Commerce President R. Jeyasekaran asked: Where was China all this time?”, referring to the help that many other countries, including India, have provided to help the war-hit region rebuild in the 12 years since the civil war ended.
However, senior Tamil leader R. Sampanthan told popular Tamil daily Virakesari that the visit of the Chinese Ambassador to the north was not as important as China’s position when it comes to Sri Lanka’s ethnic question. China has so far maintained that it will not comment on Sri Lanka’s internal affairs”.
China is yet to articulate its position on the political aspirations of the Tamil people, or our long-pending demand for a political solution. In that context, the Ambassador’s visit can only be meaningless for us,” Mr. Sampanthan was quoted as saying.
The Registrar General has issued a circular to all District Registrars and Additional District Registrars informing of the additional documents required for the registration of marriages between foreigners and Sri Lankan nationals.
The circular states the current procedure of registration of marriages between a foreigner and a Sri Lankan under (112 chapter of) marriage (Genera) Registration Ordinance was based on the following documents obtained from the foreign party of such marriage.
1. Valid Passport
2. Certification of Confirmation of Civil Status (Divorced papers/ Documents for Confirmation of Widowed where necessary)
3. Certificate of Birth (Only if needed to confirm the birth date)
However, according to the agreement based on the negotiation between the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Immigration and Emigration regarding the impact for the national security and the issues that can arise from marriages between foreigners and Sri Lankans, a decision has been made to register such marriages only through the Additional District Registrars after obtaining a Security Clearance Report” relates to the foreign party.
Therefore, in such a marriage, the original copy of the certificate obtained from the security authorities of the relevant countries, should be sent to the Civil Registration Unit of the Department through the local party or through an agent of the local party, indicating there is no any conviction for any offense during the period of six months.
Obtaining the Security Clearance Report” of that person will proceed through the department. A license will be issued to register such marriage by the Registrar General according to that report and it will be adverted to the local party or to the agent of the local party to hand over to the Additional District Registrar whom will proceed to register the marraige. A copy of the license will also be adverted to the relevant Divisional Secretariat/ Land Registration Office for reference.
Other than that, a self- declaration (Health Declaration) should also be obtained for the confirmation of the health conditions from the relevant foreigner, the circular said.
The Ministry of Health says that 398 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 within today (26).
This includes two persons who had returned from overseas.
Meanwhile the tally of confirmed cases of coronavirus climbs to 583,649 with this.
9,329 patients infected with the virus are currently undergoing treatment across the island.
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 13 coronavirus related deaths for December 25, moving the country’s death toll due to the virus to 14,884.
The deaths reported today include 09 males and 04 females while four of the deceased are between the ages 30-59 years. The remaining nine patients are aged 60 years and above.
The
North and East was a part of the
Buddhist civilization of the Anuradhapura kingdom. It was part of the
Rajarata and came directly under the rule of the Sinhala king. Inscriptions show that Abhayagiri had
monasteries outside Anuradhapura. Abhayagiri had monasteries at Kantarodai in
Jaffna, and at Nedunkerni and Ottimalai in Vanni.
With the rise of the Tamil Separatist Movement, Buddhists feared
for the Buddhist ruins in the north and east. They wanted them listed and shown
on maps. Several persons then started to list the Buddhist sites in the north. M. H. Sirisoma, Asst. Archaeological
Commissioner prepared a map of Buddhist sites in 1963. This was much valued and greatly used. It is still cited as a pioneer contribution.
In 1983, Cyril Mathew prepared a 167 page
document, titled An appeal to UNESCO to safeguard and preserve the cultural
property in Sri Lanka endangered by racial prejudice, unlawful occupation or
willful destruction.” it is a privately published monograph, carrying the
address. Barnes Place, Colombo 7.”
Cyril
Mathew’s book has a large map which shows the location of the Buddhist sides of
the north and east. Map lists 21 places
in Jaffna, 4 in Mannar, 105 in Vavuniya and Mullaitivu.’ The book also contains
information on 24 selected sites, with supporting documents, showing the
destruction of these Buddhist monuments. Among the monuments destroyed he lists
Kurundanmalai where in 1981 there was an attempt to turn the image house into a
Hindu kovil. A siripatula found there was used as a base to light camphor.
Further, the
stupa at Nellikulam in Vavuniya had been leveled and cemented and a trident
placed there. A Hindu kovil has been
constructed in the vihara premises at Mohantankulam in Vavuniya. The entire
area, including ruins has been fenced in and turned into a large cattle shed,
said Cyril Mathew. A Hindu kovil was to
be set up at Samalankulam in Vavuniya.
Cyril
Mathew’s book ends with a set of photographs showing the damage caused to
several Buddhist monuments in the north and east. The photographs include a
wantonly damaged Buddha image from Etambagaskada. Cyril Mathew acknowledged the
support of several others in preparing this document. He speaks of the support
and cooperation he received from colleagues, friends and well wishers. (See
last page)
Ellawela
Medhananda explored and wrote up his findings on the north and east starting in
2003 and continuing into 2013. He
provided maps of the sites he visited.
In 2007, the periodical Buddhist Times”
provided a list of Buddhist sites in north and east. Jaffna had 21, Mannar had
4, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu had 104, Trincomalee had 81, Batticaloa had 22, and
Ampara had 41. A total of 274 sites, said Buddhist Times. Kantarodai in
Jaffna was a large area, now it is reduced to a small area, Buddhist Times” added.
In November 2010, Sri Lanka Archeological Society presented
a talk by Muditha Karunamuni on exploration and conservation of archaeology
sites in north and eastern provinces. North and east is packed with Sinhala
Buddhist monuments, he said and showed maps to indicate this. .Muditha observed that some Buddhist remains
were deliberately destroyed. These included Etambagaskanda, and Kandikulam in
Vavuniya. Delft had Buddhist ruins including a chaitya. As long as navy was at
Delft these ruins would be safe, Muditha observed.
In 2010 the Department of Archaeology
initiated a survey of the Buddhist sites in the north. Vasana Premachandra of
the Department of Archaeology gave a talk before the Archaeological Society in
2019 on the findings of this project. In July 2020, Vasana, together with Kalpa Asanga, who had led the team in Vavuniya,
gave an expanded version of the talk to the Institute of Archaeology and
Heritage Studies, Colombo. That talk can be viewed on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNeaiDsTBoY
From these
two talks, we learnt about the Buddhist monuments project carried out in 2010 by
the Department of Archaeology in the north. In 2010, the Department of Archeology
sent a team to the North, to map out the Buddhist remains in Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi,
Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna. Their task was to find and list all the Buddhist
monuments they found and bring those
areas under the authority of the Department of Archaeology. The purpose was to protect
these archaeological sites from possible damage by the development projects planned
for the Northern Province.
The
Department obtained a grant from UNDP
and started work in 2010.The UNDP
grant ended in 2014, but the
project continued to 2015.The team paid 14 visits to
the Northern Province, staying 10 days per
month. We were unable to walk the full area of a site, as we should, said
Vasana. The army did not allow us to do so. We were confined to the areas the army
permitted us to go, but this included high security forested areas as well.
However, they were able to cover 80% of Mullaitivu area and 60% of Vavuniya.
The team first looked at the 44 known sites, but more sites emerged and the project went on to discover a total of 379 sites. They found 48 in Jaffna 16 in Kilinochchi 175 in Mullaitivu 60 in Mannar and 80 in Vavuniya.
We were the
first civil unit to go into these areas after the war, Vasana said. It was very
difficult. There were no local informants. Also the Department of Archaeology
had not been active there for the last 30 years. Therefore, the team did not
follow the usual procedure of working with the administrators serving in that
district.
Instead, they worked in consultation with the army,
who were firmly in control in the north. The army had three regional commands at
Jaffna, Wanni and Mullaitivu. The archaeological team worked closely with the
brigades under these Commands. The brigades consisted mainly of infantry battalions.
The army had been very supportive. They made sure that the team was
comfortable. The army had given up their rooms to the archaeological team and
had built toilets for the female members. The navy and the civil arakshaka Balakaya had also helped. .Vasana and Kalpa
expressed grateful thanks to the armed forces for their support.
The army and
the archaeological team had worked together very harmoniously. There was much dedication and cooperation on
both sides in executing the project. The army was also very helpful in the
actual search. ’They would call us to come and look at the things they had
found.’
Once the team
had identified a site as a Buddhist archaeological site, they erected an Archaeological
Department column there. This concrete column was very heavy, but officers
carried it willingly. The team also set boundary stones and put up a board announcing
in all three languages that the place
was now an archaeological site. Back in Colombo, the team recorded their
findings in three ‘district books’. They also had a large collection of photographs.
The team
prepared maps containing the location of these sites. These maps were given to
the other Departments to be included in their maps of the north. The locations were
also put on the Department website https://archaeologysl.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html. Wont these
ruins disappear in ten years, now that they have been identified,” asked the
audience. Vasana replied ‘that is why we have put them on the website, so now
they cannot do away with them’.
The team
obtained GPS positions for all the sites. The team was asked, when you give GPS
locators won’t that help people to destroy these places. The team replied that most of these places
are in high security forests or high
security zones, also we have not publicized the GPS locations.
Vasana said ,
in answer to a question from the
audience ,that the Department did
not take the Sangha along to inspect
sites. If we took them that could have created problems”. The only bhikkhu who
had explored the area successfully was Ellawela
Medhananda
The team
found various types of evidence in these Buddhist sites. The team found a
ketarama with brahmi script at Konagaharayan kulam and Vedikumarimalai cave temple. They found
a karanduwa of a stupa at Marandankurni, a huge vihara complex, with stupa
mound at Sonanochcha kulam, a siripatula at Periyamadu Muttumani Ambal kovil, a
pabbata vihara at Mutiyankattakulam and a guard stone at Kokilai. In Mullaitivu, the ruins spread over large areas. There were remains of stupa and
many image houses. The Buddhist sites found in Mullaitivu and Mannar were mainly Anuradhapura period , some were early
Anuradhapura, some middle Anuradhapura .
In Mullaitivu the team found 175
archaeological sites, but not all were Buddhist, some were pre-Buddhist. The team found 44 huge ( ‘visala’) monasteries
, 34 sites where the Buddhist ruins could be identified and another 55 where
they could not identify what the function of the Buddhist ruins was.
Here are some
of the findings at Mullaitivu. Ambakamun ruins had a standing Buddha statue,
stupa mound and ruins of monastery. At Andankulam the team found Buddhist ruins
in 4 places there was a stupa 6 meters tall circumference 20 meters, a Buddha statue
and asanaya. There was a monastic complex at Janakapura.
Kachchidu had a large ruin complex, with
Buddha statue and asana. Kalvilan was a monastery.
At Kalvilan,
villagers had built houses over the whole monastic site using material from the
Buddhist ruins. Various religious objects were found in the houses such as siripatula
gala for washing clothes near the well. The team spoke to the villagers and persuaded
them to part with these religious objects. Ruins were found in a paddy field at Kalvilan.
Kanyarkovil had Buddhist ruins. At Kiribbanwewa there was a seat
and a cave with ketarama . The site also had two pre-brahmi
inscriptions. Koddiyamalai site held two caves with ketarama . There has been a huge monastery at Kokavil. A complete guardstone was
found .. Rupavahini is there now. Komalamunai had a huge stupa mound; it has been
a monastic complex.Kumbakarna malai also appears to have been a huge monastic
complex. There were lots of ruins.The team thought this was probably Kumbaselaka
vihara. Kurundavashoka vihara in Komalamunai site had a moonstone and steps.
Mutiankattikulam has been a huge monastery. The team found a korawakgala and asana there. A stupa had emerged
in the wewa when the water went down. The Oddusuddan area had lots of
Buddhist ruins spread about the area, as
at Keridamadu, Kachchilamadu, and Muniyan Kaddikulama. Materials from Buddhist
ruins were used for the Oddusuddan kovil.
Buddhist
pillars were seen beside the Sivapuram Sri
Malai Kovil also stone edict dated to 8 to 10 AD which has been published. .‘Vannammaduva had a complete Buddhist statue
in Samadhi, the army took it and it is now kept in the army camp.
Buddhist
sites were found in several places in Mannar. Maligapitti had lots of ruins
with a stupa mound. Place is surrounded
by houses. A Buddha statue was found
near Murungan, also a stupa in a banana plantation. Buddhist ruins
were found near Murungan hospital including siripatula, an inscription and
stone columns. The inscription and siripatula
were used for patients to sit on. There were
Buddhist sites at Mardamadu Pudalpitti, Neeravi kulam and Pokkaravanni .A. Buddha statue was found at Koviyamadu.
The army had placed it inside a hut and were looking after it.
The team found
6 firmly established monasteries in
Mannar. They were monastic complexes. They belonged to the Anuradhapura period, but the team
did not have the time to accurately
identify which Anuradhapura period they belonged to. The large complexes were
always near water. The
team also found a vast number of inscriptions in Mannar which were not known
earlier. The script used in the northern
inscriptions was the same as the script
found in the southern inscriptions.
In 2016, the Integrated Strategic Environment Assessment for the Northern Province of Sri Lanka (ISEA-North) 2016-2017 prepared a map of the Buddhist remains in the north.
The Maya writing system was used in what is now Mexico and Central America for almost two thousand years, until after the arrival of Cortés. It was written in bark paper books, carved on public monuments and inscribed on personal objects of pottery, bone and jade. The invading Spanish outlawed the script and burned thousands of books, systematically wiping out literacy in the Maya script and severing the Maya people from the written record of their own extraordinary past.
n the nineteenth century the texts began to re-emerge, as buried cities and fantastic inscriptions were discovered in the jungles and rare Maya books plundered by the Spanish were re-discovered in the libraries of Europe. Early scholars decoded the complex Maya calendar and identified glyphs for gods, planets, animals, colors and directions. But prejudice and misconceptions about the nature of the Maya people and their script kept the meaning of the texts a mystery for over a century more.
Over the past few decades, a diverse group of epigraphers and historians, ethnographers and archaeologists, astronomers and linguists, artists and amateurs, have finally unlocked the secrets of the glyphs. Today over ninety percent of the script is understood.
For the six million modern day Maya, this recovered history, poetry and mythology is an extraordinary source of pride and identity. Maya students are now learning to read hieroglyphs, and parents who for centuries named their babies after Christian saints are now naming their children after ancient Maya kings.
Destruction started with Spanish Inquisition, Catholic priest Diego de Landa, destroyed Mayan language and culture.
This is only an example of destructive power of church Intolerance Meme, idea of Jewish religion started few centuries before the birth of Jesus, and was continued by Christians in 3 rd and 4 th centuries AD. The Intolerance is based on same Islamic Principle as only Yahweh is god, and anyone who worships other gods is committing a sin and thus okay to murder and destruct temples. Although Christian continued their policy after 1 st world war with greed of money and visa to Europe and USA and thus converting Hindus and Muslims all over world, but their terrorist legacy is still carried by their brother Islamist. Remember there is no difference between IBRAHIM AND ABRAHAM. Their intolerance justifies atrocities in Yahweh’s name: Murder, slavery, forced conversion, suppression and destruction of other religions, racism, and many other immoral acts.
Now let us see the secularism. As in Modern India, where Hindus let all religions come, same foreign religion overtake and start destruction of same secular Hindus. Same story was repeated in Mayan era when Mayan incorporated Christian God in their Temples, in name of secularism, and started conversion machine ,of Mayan converts” who incorporated the Catholic Yahweh/Jesus/Spirit, along with the various saints and angels, into their own traditional religion, he became furious and that resulted in torture and death across the Yucatan region. He set goal to wipe out all knowledge of the Mayan religion and was successful. After Fifty years in 1699, Spanish soldiers burned a town that had the last school of scribes who knew the Mayan hieroglyphs. By 1720, everything was finished, murdered, destroyed who knew Mayan language.
The Roman Catholic church’s response? Diego de Landa’s crime was that he carried out an inquisition without authorization and was punished for house arrest for few years and then promoted to Bishop of Yucatan, same city he destroyed. Remember, he was not punished to destroy Mayan language, temples, murder , atrocities. That is what Roman church is.
After two hundred years, and an international team of linguists, anthropologists, archeologists, mathematicians, an architect, and one twelve-year-old child prodigy hieroglyphics expert, were able to restore left over and deciphered almost 90% of stone inscribed language.
Bangladesh
got its independence from Pakistan in 1971 after a bloody struggle. Pakistan
had been exploiting then East Pakistan systematically and Islamabad’s economy
was built on the money of the Bengali-majority areas. However, the newly
independent nation of Bangladesh came into existence under the charismatic
leadership of its great founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in
1971, signaling the ultimate triumph of the Bengali identity.
Bangladesh
inherited a shattered economy and a completely broken infrastructure. It was
described as a hopeless economic disaster by many economic experts and world
leaders such as then US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who called it a
Bottomless Basket” in 1974. Nobody believed that Bangladesh could survive
economically as an independent country. Today the world is both surprised and
delighted to see the phoenix rising from the ashes.
But
the path was not so smooth. The war-ravaged country faced some hard realities
and went through economic struggles. Mujibur Rahman tried his level best to
make Bangladesh his promised ‘Golden Bengal’. But miscreants played the spoiler
and assassinated him to serve their interests instead of the national interest.
So, the promised dream of a great ‘Golden Bengal’ did not materialize then.
The
people of Bangladesh suffered for years as the country saw political ups and
downs from time to time. But now the picture has changed. Bangladesh is now
growing and rising. Its Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is trying to fulfill her
father Sheikh Mujibur’s dream of ushering in a Golden Bengal’. Credit must be
given not only to Sheikh Hasina but also to the hardworking people of Bangladesh.
Pakistani media appraise Bangladesh.
Rare appreciation from Pakistan is the grudging recognition of Bangladesh’s
success story.
Dawn, One of Pakistan’s
prestigious newspapers, published an article on December 16 (Day of Golden
Jubilee of Bangladesh) titled ‘The Bangladesh Story’written by Pakistani
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Advisor for Institutional Reforms and
Austerity Ishrat Husainwho served as the dean of the Institute of
Business Administration, University of Karachi and the Governor of the State
Bank of Pakistan. According to the article,’ The Bangladesh story is an
attractive one. How can a country so vulnerable to natural calamities
outperform its much larger, better-endowed neighbours — India and Pakistan — in
most socio-economic indicators?’ He showed the 6 fact-findings in his article
why Bangladesh is moving forward such as cultural homogeneity with the same
language, ethnicity, and a shared history and practically no religious, sectarian,
tribal, and feudal divisions, the unitary form of government, women
empowerment, a continuity in economic policies, projects, and programs despite
having bitter political rivalries, efforts to liberalize trade, open its
economy, bring in foreign technical know-how and provide generous cash and
non-cash incentives to exporters, sustained high growth. Pakistan’s other popular and leading
daily ‘Pakistan Today’ (whose founding editor was Pakistan’s veteran journalist
and minister Arif Nizami) published an excellent article on December 24 titled ‘Why and how
Bangladesh is moving forward?’ written by Jubeda Chowdhury. Jubeda
Chowdhury’s well-written article describes the pros and cons (a-z) of the
economic growth model and system of Bangladesh. To understand the pace of
economic growth of Bangladesh, I suggest all to read the article carefully.
Another leading daily ‘The News
International’ published also published an article on December 21 titled’ The West Pakistan
Model’ written by Mosharraf Zaidi. In his article, he analyses and
compares the Bangladesh Model of economic growth and the West Pakistan Model’.
It is pertinent to mention that Pakistani magazine
“South Asia” published a total of seven stories highlighting the
success and achievements of Bangladesh and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in
March.
Sheikh
Hasina’s contribution
Of
course, PM Sheikh Hasina has made a great contribution because, without an
able, dynamic and prudent leadership, the country would not have emerged as a
rising star. She is still striving hard to make Bangladesh prosperous and
developed within 2041.
Indeed,
Bangladesh is now a prime example of a South Asian economic miracle. Many
countries and international organizations are appreciating the economic rise of
Bangladesh.
Even
Pakistani journalists are praising Bangladesh’s economic growth in their
reports, editorials, opinions, etc. One of the leading dailies, Express
Tribune, published an article on October 5, 2021, titled The Meteoric Rise of
Bangladesh”. According to the article, Bangladesh has shown unexpected
and very impressive economic development. The GDP growth rate surpassed
Pakistan’s in 2006 and since then it has outperformed Pakistan every year and,
to the surprise of leading economists, is today one of the world’s fastest-growing
economies. The GDP per capita of Bangladesh is close to India and exceeds that
of Pakistan”.
A
Pakistani economist, Abid Hasan, a former adviser to the World Bank, wrote an
article in another leading Pakistani daily, The News International, titled ‘Aid
from Bangladesh’. on May 24, 2021. In his article, he said Pakistan may end up
seeking financial assistance from Bangladesh by 2030. It is the economic growth
achieved by Bangladesh that has earned such grudging praise from a Pakistani
economist.
Advice
for Pakistan PM
Noted
Pakistani journalist Zaigham Khan, while taking part in a television talk show
Awaam on Capital TV in September 2018, advised Pakistan Prime Minister Imran
Khan to follow the development model of Bangladesh to ensure Pakistan’s progress
and development. He said Pakistan should be modeled on Bangladesh instead of
faraway Sweden. This was because PM Khan had made grand promises that he would
turn Pakistan into a developed country like Sweden.
A
professor of the University of Karachi, Moonis Ahmar, wrote in an article
titled How and why is Bangladesh better off than Pakistan today?” in
Express Tribune on March 21, 2021 that four factors that contributed to
transforming Bangladesh from an international beggar” to an economically vibrant
country” are leadership, innovation, planning, and ownership.
Even
Pakistan Today, The Pakistan Observer, The Frontier Post – all major English
dailies – have published articles lauding the economic growth of Bangladesh.
They said the country’s economy was booming under the leadership of its PM
Sheikh Hasina. The Pakistan Observer felt Bangladesh was going to be the next
South Asian economic superstar. Pakistan Today acknowledged Bangladesh’s
tremendous effort to boost its economy over the past few years.
While
the Pakistani media has been asking its government to follow Bangladesh’s
model, it remains a sore point that Bangladesh -then East Pakistan, its eastern
wing – was an exploited colony of Pakistan.
Bangladesh
is now ahead of Pakistan in many indexes. It is a matter of considerable
surprise that Pakistan is now praising Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh is now
just 50, Pakistan is 74 years old. Had Pakistan not exploited Bangladesh
economically for 24 years (1947-71), it would have gone further ahead. However,
Pakistan praising Bangladesh reflects both the reality and success of
Bangladesh.
The Health Ministry says that another 529 persons have tested positive for Covid-19.
The new cases confirmed today includes one returnee from overseas.
This brings the total number of Covid-19 cases registered in the country to 583,251 while presently approximately 9,252 infected patients are undergoing treatment.
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 19 coronavirus related deaths for December 24, increasing the death toll in Sri Lanka due to the virus to 14,871.
The deaths confirmed today include 07 males and 12 females, according to the latest figures released by the Govt. Information Department.
One of the victims is below the age of 30 years while two are between 30-59 years. The remaining 16 patients are above the age of 60 years.
It is reported that Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundara has sent a letter to the President stating that he will resign from the post of Secretary to the President after 31 January.
In that letter, Dr. Jayasundera has requested the President to release him from the post of Secretary to the President after 31 January.
It is reported that this article mentions all the difficulties faced by Dr. P.B. Jayasundara during his tenure as Secretary to the President.
Some of the decisions taken by Dr. P.B. Jayasundara as the Secretary to the President were severely criticized by various senior officials, including the Ministers and Members of the present Government.
Addressing
a gathering of jurists in Sinhala at a function in Colombo, justice minister
Ali Sabry said (December 12): To me as minister for justice, and to us all as
citizens of this country, people are the most important factor. It is because
of them that this (legal) profession exists; judges sit because of them.
Ultimately, the interest of the people must take priority over everything
(else). I don’t think I will (Ali Sabry chuckled as he said this) seek to go to
parliament again…. I state this without any fear.. I will revert to my
preferred occupation, that of supporting the judiciary…. We know that some laws
of this country have not been updated for over a hundred years. This task (of
modernising outdated laws) is our key focus… Some thirty committees are engaged
in this work (at present)….”. Then the minister talked about the perennial
problem of law’s delays. He claimed that even the Mahanayake Thera, when he
called on him, asked him to do something about the monks having to visit courts
frequently (due to the slowness of court procedures): We’ll introduce a small
claims court as found in other countries; cases that involve less than (Rs) 2
million need no prolonged examination of evidence, except in special instances.
A method for resolving these cases through an affidavit system will be put in
place. This is to relieve pressure on the district courts”. (Explanations in
parentheses are mine. I hope I have interpreted the minister’s meaning
correctly. C.O.O.L in the title is a re-arranged acronym for One Country One
Law)
The
present ruling alliance, the SLPP, led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa sought election on the main platform of One
Country One Law. However sincerely both reached out to the Tamil and Muslim minorities,and
had never practiced discrimination against them in the past, the level of
support expected from them was not forthcoming.This was due to the influence
that certain communalist Tamil and Muslim politicians exercise over those
minorities. It was a fact that the two brothers came to power chiefly on
the strength of the SLPP-ideology-inspired Sinhala votes. But, as could be
expected, they assured the minorities that their interests would not be ignored
in any way; they invited all of them to participate in nation building with the
majority community. Steps were taken to ensure that Tamils and Muslims are
fully represented in the administration. The key ministry of justice was given
by the president to national list MP Ali Sabry. No minister in the
cabinet has to do more with the implementation of One Country One Law concept
than Ali Sabry.
Surprisingly,
he is now talking as if he has forgotten that all important (at least
purportedly so) goal of the government, for which it got the strongest ever
electoral mandate. One may think that Ali Sabry is having the last laugh! He
implies that even the monks, the most vehement advocates of One Country One
Law, are now only complaining about the chronic problem of law’s delays, which,
of course, is not a political issue! The One Country One Law ideal involves
politics, as it is opposed by a minority of communal and religious extremists.
The
appointment of a whistleblower Buddhist monk, who had earned a bad reputation
due to his own lack of basic self-restraint and discipline (in spite of his
cause being a genuine justifiable one), as head of a presidential task force is
as questionable and as irrational as the president’s later appointment of a
trade union leader monk as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo;
but that is a different matter. Bracketing Ali Sabry with the controversial
monk could not be accidental. Though the two are handling closely allied
subjects, they are diametrically opposed to each other in their education,
religious beliefs, and personal attributes. Probably they were coupled together
to neutralize each other, or just to make a mockery of the One Country One Law
project.
But
extremists are a vanishing tribe nowadays, for there are signs that indicate
that these communalists will go out of circulation by the time of the next
elections, replaced by the emerging progressive younger generation of Tamil and
Muslim politicians, just as the old guard politicians of the two major national
parties will be ousted by an alliance of smaller patriotic parties and groups
led by a refurbished JVP further strengthened by the return to its fold of its
earlier stalwarts,and also accompanied by a rejuvenation of its leadership. The
concluding paragraph of an article of mine entitled JVP at a crossroads”
published in The Island Midweek Review on March 7, 2018 was as follows: The
JVP must take a long, hard look at its wasteful past and subject itself to
serious reform as a party. It must get rid of its outdated ideologies and
outmoded leaders. It must not condemn the voters as idiots for not voting for
them. Most important, the JVPers must find political allies with whom they can
coexist and serve the nation.”
(I
would now use the term ‘save’ for ‘serve’ in the last sentence.)
I
imagine that such a broad alliance will absorb emerging young political
activists of all communities including Uvindu Wijeweera (son of JVP founder
Rohana Wijeweera), Amith Weerasinghe, Dan Priyasad, Arun Siddhartan et al, and
non-extremist ordinary young Muslim, and ex-Muslims such as Rishvin Ismath (who
has fearlessly appeared on national TV channels, speaking against Islamists,
risking his life for the sake of the country). Such a winning alliance must
have the last laugh. The One Country One Law ideal must be left for them to
realise.
That
was a sort of anticipatory digression. Let me return to the Ali Sabry factor
that is the subject of this piece. A retrospective survey is necessary at this
point. About a year ago,
Media
secretary Viraj Abeysinghe of the Ministry of Health issued a press statement
warning against spreading false information allegedly concocted by certain
politicians and websites regarding the subject of whether to bury or burn the
bodies of persons who had succumbed to the COVID-19 infection
(lankacnews-Sinhala/December 28, 2020). It notified that the Ministry was
turning its attention to some ‘politically motivated fake news’ stories
featuring powerful politicians connected with the government. The statement
further said that for the time being (daenata) cremation alone was done
on the instructions of all the expert reports received by the Ministry until
then. Very much the same news was carried in Hiru TV News (9:55 pm/December 27,
2020). We felt that this, despite the provisionality expressed by ‘daenata’,
was signalling an end to needlessly prolonged dilly-dallying on the part of the
authorities about an issue where evidence-based science ought to have had
the last word.
Interviewed
by two You Tube channels (Hari TV/Lahiru Mudalige/December 16 and Konara
Vlogs/Avishka Konara/December 23, 2020) Ali Sabry PC, Minister of Justice,
stressed that his struggle was to build bridges rather than walls between the
communities. For over eight months by then he had been advocating burial of
bodies of Muslims who had died of Covid-19, ignoring the decree of the
competent authority, the DGHS (Director General of Health Services). The DGHS
was acting on the advice of the local experts who knew best what was suitable
for our country in the then existing context, i.e., cremation. The reputed
lawyer was the legal consultant of (current president) Gotabaya Rajapaksa at
least for fifteen years from the latter’s defence secretary days; he had
successfully defended the latter against false charges of various kinds
fabricated by political opponents. Sabry’s aim of establishing intercommunal
harmony had been laudable, and he might be sincere in his efforts in that
direction, but how sincere was yet to be demonstrated. This was because it was
puzzling that he repeatedly warned that young Muslims were likely to be pushed
towards extremism by what they’d perceive as a denial of their right to freedom
of religion if the health authorities did not allow the burial of bodies of
Muslims claimed by Covid-19. His totally nonsensical stand on the sensitive
issue (that had to be left for science, but not religion, to resolve) was
likely to give a fillip to extremists and other miscreants opposed to the
government to create trouble. M.L.A,M. Hizbullah, State minister and later
Eastern Provincial governor under the previous yahapalanaya, made a similar
warning, which was not warranted by the then prevailing ground realities, not
long before the 2019 April 21 Easter Sunday terror bombings by Islamists.
During
the first interview mentioned above, Ali Sabry made the patently false claim
that the Aluthgama and Digana incidents drove young Muslims to extremism,
whereas the truth was the reverse of that, as borne out by evidence. (These
incidents must be investigated even belatedly to discover the factual situation
that then obtained. The disastrous policy of political correctness that led to
the submergence of the truth on those occasions then seemed to be at work once
again.) Sabry referred to how the UK responded to incidents of Islamic
extremist violence as a model to follow in dealing with the same problem in Sri
Lanka: the UK government reached out to the mainstream Muslim minority and
acted to win their confidence and support in order to contain Islamic extremism
in that country. That was a false analogy. He implied that Sri Lanka had to do
the same (as if Sri Lanka has not been doing exactly that for centuries) or ‘we
must kill all Muslims and put them into the sea!’ (The violent imagery in his
speech was an indication of the commotion in his own mind resulting from his
subliminal awareness of guilt as he felt compelled to lie in that situation for
political expediency within his own community. His persistent advocacy of
burial against the lawful directives of the DGHS revealed his anxiety to avoid
displeasing pious Muslims who insisted on burying their dead as per strict
Muslim funeral rites.) It was reported that he threatened to resign from his
ministerial post on this issue, but that he was persuaded to stay on, which to
the genuinely concerned sounded fishy, no doubt.
Ali
Sabry had been sounding the warning mentioned above (about possible unrest
among Muslim youth over the ‘no burial only cremation’ problem since early
April 2020. He apparently believed that he was undergoing a sort of public
trial by being blamed by both the Muslim community on the one hand who felt
aggrieved by the compulsory cremation rule imposed on all citizens by the
health authorities for the safe disposal of bodies of Covid-19 victims and the
numerically strong nationalist faction on the other led by the monks, who
insisted] that the rule should not be relaxed to satisfy the whims of one
particular group of people thereby endangering the lives of the whole
population through the possible release of the still inadequately understood
novel coronavirus from the interred bodies to the country’s water table, which,
in many places in Sri Lanka, is not very deep, and lies close to the surface.
The controversial Gnanasara Thera (who is now heading the presidential task
mentioned) was an exception: he spoke up for Muslims who wanted to bury; the
monk said that the Muslims’ demand for burial should be allowed.
Ali
Sabry should know better than most that there has been no lack of
reaching out to the mainstream Muslim minority either by the majority community
or by the successive governments. Muslims as a community are mainly engaged in
business. Seventy-five per cent of their customer base comprises Sinhalese,
making it possible for Muslim businesses to thrive normally, though there’s
been just condemnation, among the citizenry including the majority Sinhalese,
of worsening Islamist extremism in recent years. Be that as it may, it is not
simply because Sabry had served president Gotabaya in the past as his
implicitly trusted personal legal service provider that he was made a national
list MP by the SLPP and honoured and empowered with such a very important key
portfolio.
‘One
country One law’ was the rallying cry that inspired patriotic Sri Lankans at
both the presidential and parliamentary elections to vote for the SLPP, which
won with the largest margins. As minister of justice Sabry has been entrusted
with the task of supervising the making of a new constitution that is designed
to achieve that epoch making change (namely, One Country, One Law) among other
things. Gotabaya made no bones about the fact that he won the presidency almost
exclusively on the strength of Sinhalese votes, as already hinted above; most
Muslims and Tamils chose not to respond positively to his call for support at
the presidential election. His bluntness was a reflection of his characteristic
candour, which had then not been compromised by the hypocrisy of political
correctness, his older brother’s blunt weapon, that fails more often than it
succeeds. But Gotabaya did not hold any grudge against those who rejected
him, for in the same breath president elect Gotabaya said that he was elected
as president of all the citizens of the country and that he would serve in that
post without discriminating against any citizen. There is no doubt about the
fact that he meant what he said. By appointing Ali Sabry to the powerful post
of Minister of Justice, the president incidentally reassured the Muslims that
he would not exclude them from his vision of prosperity and splendour for the
nation.
But
Ali Sabry did not budge an inch from his original unqualified opposition
to the mandatory burning of bodies of Muslim victims of Covid-19 over which he
expressed his disappointment in a Facebook post, something mentioned in an Al
Jazeera news report/April 3, 2020, with the authorities’ decision which, he
alleged, ignored the WHO guidelines that allow both burial and cremation. Were
we to believe that our experts chose to overlook the WHO guidelines without a
rational explanation? Sabry deliberately ignored the various reservations that
clearly qualified the WHO guidelines, leaving the authorised specialists of any
member country to modify those recommendations as appropriate for local
conditions and ground realities. The basic assumption that he seemed to be
operating on, regarding the burial problem, was wrong. For all intents and
purposes, he pretended to wrongly believe that the health authorities insisted
on making no exception for Muslim dead in this case because that was what the
monks wanted. Ali Sabry was the last person that rational people would
expect to demand that Muslims should be allowed to bury their loved ones dead
from the novel coronavirus while cremation was the only safe method ordered by
the Director General of Health Services (DGHS).
This
is not a happy thing to say about arguably the most important and influential
minister in the cabinet, being the closest companion of the president, next to
the prime minister, who is the president’s own brother. It was inconceivable
how Ali Sabry was capable of (no doubt unintentionally) justifying the berserk
behaviour of some virus-infected Muslims (as seen in their show of
insubordination, noncooperation, physical harassment of the health workers
trying to help them including spitting at them (with the malicious intention of
spreading the infection); cases were reported of some Covid-19 positive tested
individuals spitting out of the windows of buses carrying them to quarantine
centres in vicious attempts to spread dreaded infection). Such demonstration of
unprovoked anger is based on the false pretext of alleged discrimination
against them by the government in the matter of mandatory cremation of Corona
dead as prescribed by the responsible health experts to prevent the escape of
the deadly virus with many unknowns into the environment. The virus is no
respecter of people’s religious sensitivities. If the Director General of
Health determined that cremation was the only option for Sri Lanka in the
prevailing emergency, all citizens were obliged to accept that and act
accordingly.
Why
didn’t Ali Sabry make an effort to explain to the agitating Muslims and to the
misinformed Muslim world in general, who have never been enemies of Sri Lanka,
that this blown-out-of-proportion controversy over the burial or cremation
issue had nothing to do with the monks or the government or the health
authorities or the army and police officers (the last mentioned having been
co-opted into the Covid containment operation only as ancillary personnel
employed for a strictly logistical purpose to serve under the DGHS, the
government appointed competent authority, who gives leadership to the whole
enterprise, which involves every single citizen of the country).
The
cremation imperative was not an arbitrary decision taken by the government to
spite the Muslim minority under pressure from the monks as misleadingly
suggested by the hostile foreign NGO elements, Islamists, a handful of
misguided Muslims, and the irresponsible SJB-led opposition. The DGHS was not
acting capriciously either; his recommendations were based on a scientific
rationale collectively defined by a group of experts belonging to a number of
different but relevant fields of study in the best interest of all resident Sri
Lankans and foreign visitors. Ali Sabry seemed to be more concerned about
remaining in the good books of the handful of Islamists and their sympathisers
than about the feelings of the ninety-five per cent of the population who are
against them. Was he in the thrall of the five percent? The fate of the goal of
One Country One Law under Ali Sabry as Minister of Justice is not difficult to
guess.
(Note
to Lankaweb readers: The latter two thirds of this article a timely
rehash of a previous article of mine published here: Even you, Minister Ali
Sabry?”. Readers, please bear with me for repeating myself.)
The appointment of a presidential task force mandated to draft relevant legislation aimed at operationalising the ‘One Country, One Law’ concept precipitated howls of protests. The howlers weren’t exactly from those opposed in some way to a single corpus of rules; rather they by and large belonged to that small set of people who are either inclined to object to anything that any government proposes or to see demons in anything proposed by governments headed by people with the name Rajapaksa.
One has to wonder if the objectors would have been as livid had the President appointed anyone other than Rev Galabodaaththe Gnanasara Thero to head the said task force given his volatile (soft word) history. That aside, it is indeed intriguing that those who swear by secularism have issues with the notion. Moreover, it must be emphasized that the ‘One country, one law’ concept is not owned by the President. It is in fact co-owned — Sajith Premadasa as the presidential candidate of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya was in agreement with Candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The numbers tell a story about the sentiments of the voting population. A total of 6.9 million voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa while Sajith Premadasa obtained 5.7 million votes. That’s 12.6 million. There were altogether 35 candidates. They either echoed this vision in their manifestos and rhetoric or were silent. In other words, at least 12.6 million people or 94.24% of the total number who cast valid votes (52.25% for Gotabaya and 41.99% for Sajith), voted for candidates who believed that Sri Lanka is a SINGLE COUNTRY and therefore should have ONE LAW for all. In fact if the other 33 candidates were asked ‘are you for or against?’ the chances are that the vast majority would say ‘for.’ We could then stop with ‘so there!’ That however would be simplistic if only because the devil would be in the details. Moreover we are talking about a nation so fractured along many lines that grief and anxiety have to be understood as key elements of the political soil in which the idea has to be planted, fertilized and tended.
Grief and anxiety are not value-free. They are infected with ideological and outcome preferences. They can and are often inflated by the allegedly aggrieved and anxious. They are also pooh-poohed by those opposed to such grievers. We have, in fact, contesting anxieties and griefs. Laws can be and ought to be dispassionate but their enactment and enforcement fuel emotion. If the task force has as objective a set of rules that make for healing then we need to be sensitive to these emotions, political though the articulator are and pernicious though their fuelling could be.
Which community (ethnic, religious or political) in this country is free of anxiety? Is there any community that is not aggrieved? Can any community say ‘our anxieties are greater and we are more aggrieved’? Will any community admit ‘we are less aggrieved and less anxious’? Will anyone say ‘we inflicted suffering and we are responsible for grief and anxieties experienced by others’? The ‘yes’ and/or ‘no’ answers to such questions will give us some sense of the political terrain in which resolution-efforts of any kind (this one included) have to be planted. It’s not really an amazingly fertile soil that we are talking about. It is toxic and toxicity is deliberately enhanced by one and all, with the best of intentions or, as is more often the case, with vile intent.
To me, at some fundamental level, it is about one’s sense of belonging. Laws are controlling mechanism to which a population must submit. If the submission is done willingly (because there’s something to gain in the social contract) it’s all good. However if the law or a set of laws are discriminatory or else privilege a community other than one which you belong to (or identify with), displeasure if not anxiety and grief will ensue.
Do we need to list all the grievances and all the anxieties? When will we start recognising that we have caused grief and anxiety to others? When will we acknowledge that we have deliberately and even perniciously inflated angst and ridiculed that of others? When will selectivity be acknowledged? When will we say ‘we too are guilty of various crimes of omission and commission’?
What the Task Force is going to come up with, we cannot predict. We do know that the President appointed a committee of experts to draft a new constitution. One must assume that the committee has been busy drafting and that it has taken into account the popular sentiments of the people, the relevant histories and most importantly the fact that ‘One country, one law’ has been agreed upon by the vast majority of the voters. The Task Force ought to be in communication with this committee simply because its mandate, technically, is a sliver of the task assigned to the said committee.
The Task Force can insist, the committee can give weight but parliament and the people must in the final instance agree. That’s a process of law-formulation. On face value it seems an easy thing to do. At the end of it you’ll get new laws or you’ll have to live with what that currently exists. Either way, there’s no guarantee that the resolution desired will be obtained.
We have heard the pros and cons of this and that offered and refuted by one community or another. That’s the easy part and it’s the easy thing that we’ve done for decades. Understandable of course because that’s what politics is all about. It is hard to rise above all that. We look for ‘truth’ and talk of ‘reconciliation’ but what we end up doing is toss around half (or less) truths and insist on resolutions that sort out our anxieties and in some way alleviate our griefs, never mind what they could do to others.
So yes, we’ve talked for decades. And we’ve footnoted or erased much more than we’ve written. If Rev Gnanasara Thera and the Task Force he leads recognizes this and initiates a discussion along these lines it would be good. Indeed it would give much needed credence to the process. Even if it does not result in scripting formal rules relevant to the idea (One country, one law), it will take us quite a distance along the road to solidarities that have evaded us for too long.
Christmas
2021 approached with several restrictions from the Sri Lankan Health
authorities due to Covid-19. Over two billion people celebrate the birth of
Christ on 24 December every year. Christmas is the most joyful season in the
year. Generally it’s an occasion for the family to reunite and everyone in the
family joins for either lunch or dinner on Christmas: the menu is Turkey with
stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and vegetables.
Other
types of poultry, roast beef, or ham come to the dining table as extras. For
dessert its pumpkin or apple pie, raisin pudding, Christmas pudding, or
fruitcake. The Christmas tree a must for Christians, embellishes every home
with decorations that include bells, reindeer, candles, candy canes, garland,
stockings, wreaths, snow globes, and angels irrespective of their faith.
Christmas
in Sri Lanka 2021
This
Christmas is affected
by the high cost of living: the public were spending frugally due to the sharp
increase in the cost of living, the floods, and the Covid-19 pandemic. The
pandemic forced the Government to shut down the country several times, the
Government’s dollar reserves weakened, declining the economy critically.
The
common folk, particularly the farmers screamed about a bump on the ride, while
a few privileged VIPs got their hands up and enjoyed the gallop by holidaying
in Nuwara Eliya, and others by travelling abroad during the festive
season. On top of everything the LP gas explosions had a damaging clout on the
Government; while, a person died from the gas explosion.
Christmas
arrives as
usual at the end of the year to celebrate what Jesus Christ advised the
mortals:
Not to
concentrate purely on accumulating wealth, but to realise that all living
beings devise ideas originating within a person’s heart to
tarnish him unless the person’s heart is pure, and mind is cleansed
(Mark 7:21-23).”
What
Jesus Christ expected
Christians,
especially on Christmas, need to follow love and compassion what Jesus
Christ preached. But it is ridiculous how people globally become victims
of a commercial hype. Christmas,
of course, comes but once a year, and Christians declare year on year,
especially at mid-night Christmas Eve Mass, never to get bogged down in
commercial extravaganzas again! Yet they forget about it after a few
months.
In that
sense during the festive season, Christmas turns into a contagious disease. It
becomes evidently clear with the congested traffic, shops and supermarkets and
jewellery shops packed to capacity to increase their turnover. People behave so
ludicrously as if the world is going to end! But this year Christmas is
different with the
soaring cost of everything – from vegetables to all household goods and
materials in the building industry bearing an unreasonable price hike the
buying spree has abated.
Foreign
countries
Other
countries celebrate Christmas in style, irrespective of their religious faith,
and get into the festive mood with decorations. The compulsory Christmas tree
adorns the home with tinsels from the beginning of the month of December and
remains until seven days after Christmas.
Another
aspect of Christmas is the display of the vast amount of Christmas cards
received by households as a means of exhibiting their circle of friends. Even
mature folks begin to act like babies by playing alongside kids on Christmas
with children’s electronic battery operated toys! The international shopping
malls and streets around get illuminated with scores of electric bulbs during
the festive season, akin to Vesak celebrations, spreading the splendour of
Christmas.
Christmas
tree
The
history of the Christmas tree glittering with lights and decor goes back to
ancient Egypt and Rome, which continues to date. America managed to bring the
candlelit Christmas tree for the first time in 1800.
Subsequently,
the candlelit Christmas tree became fashionable in Germany. In 1846 London
news-stands illustrated Queen Victoria of Britain and Prince Albert with their
children around a Christmas tree.
Before the birth of Christianity plants and
trees remained green throughout the year. Many countries believed that
evergreen plants kept away ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.
Christmas
started its celebrations universally since the 4th Century. Ever since, the
young children were conditioned to believe in the ‘ jolly old man’,
called Father Christmas, with white whiskers, wearing a red robe,
and a large sack containing gifts, visiting at homes at midnight through the
roof or chimney.
The
term Father Christmas originated from St. Nicholas, the Patron Saint of
schoolchildren, after the death of Jesus. During the 17th century, Dutch
Protestant settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) replaced St. Nicholas
(Sinterklaas) with the name of the generous magician called Santa Claus.
Pre-Christmas
In
preparation for Christmas, entrepreneurs concentrate on electronic contraptions
and greeting cards printed in many forms to boost their income.
At no
other time during a year hypocrisy becomes so rampant. People spend money on
Christmas presents and send Christmas cards even to immediate neighbours
whom they meet daily. Sir Henry and John Horsley designed the first
Christmas card with three panels – the outer two panels displayed people caring
for the poor, and the centre panel displayed a family enjoying Christmas
lunch.
Currently,
card manufacturers produce millions of Christmas cards throughout the world to
increase their revenue. Felling down trees annually for this purpose does
an irreparable harm to the environment. The mince pie is regarded as a part of
the British culture for hundreds of years with Christmas lunch. Currently, over
£5 million (Rs 136,000,000) worth of mince pies, along with £2 M (Rs
55,000,000) million Christmas puddings get sold out during Christmas in the UK.
Jesus
was born an ordinary man and led a simple life by travelling from place to
place. Despite his teachings of kindness and forbearance, evil forces are
at large leading towards disorder and a chaotic situation. Christ demonstrates
how to be tolerant, even during his traumatic moments on the cross by loving
and forgiving the very people who sentenced him to death! Therefore,
enjoyment during Christmas should not be a commercial fun fare to kill pigs and
disembowel chicken and bring these as succulent dishes to the Christmas lunch
table, but to decorate people’s hearts with love, compassion and human
feeling for one another and to ward off the worst impending disasters that
are predicted in the future.
Colombo, Dec 24 (AdaDerana) – The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) set a new record today (December 24) as the All Share Price Index (ASPI) surpassed 12,000 points for the first time in history.
The ASPI closed at 12,070.68 points at the end of trading today (November 16), marking an increase of 1.00% (119.45 points) from the previous day.
The previous highest was recorded last month when the index closed at 11,008.33 points on November 16.
More than 175 million shares were traded overall within the day and the market turnover is recorded as Rs. 2.84 billion.
Meanwhile, the S&P SL20 closed at 4,255.63 points today, up by 0.14% from the previous day.
Today’s trading session was carried on for 90 minutes and was closed at 12.30 p.m. due to the additional half-holiday declared by the CSE in view of the Christmas festival.
